Echoes
by Specks
Summary: Sequel to Time's UP: Alec deals with a tragic loss and reflects.


Title: Echoes  
  
Rating: G  
  
Disclaimer: Fox and James Cameron and all those network honchos own all.  
  
Synopsis: Alec reflects on an unexpected tragedy.  
  
Spoilers: Elements of Hello Goodbye  
  
Author's notes: Thank you to Nina. You are the best beta reader. (What we don't know can't hurt us. aka: rules lol.)  
  
Feedback: Yes yes! I'm thinking about writing Logan's reaction as well. And no.. I do not hate Logan. If you want to find out his real reaction then you have to send me feedback. Hah! Please Email me at slete130@netzero.net.  
  
Alec bustled around Max's kitchen prepared to surprise her with breakfast. She'd gone out on a limb to save him last night so it was the least he could do. Of course she'd squawk about the mess he made in the kitchen. But hey, its the thought that counts. Besides its not like the kitchen could get any more messed up then it already was when he'd arrived that morning. Whistling a tune, Alec cheerfully fried eggs and strips of bacon, purposefully leaving smears of grease on the table. He knew she was going to yell at him for being caught and acting like an idiot when she got home.. So he figured he might as well get some fun out of it by annoying her.  
  
He was setting the table when his cell rang.  
  
"Yo, Alec here what's up man?"  
  
The answer was not what he expected.  
  
'No! Not her. Not possible'  
  
It had been Logan on the phone, calling to tell him... to tell him. God even now he couldn't grasp the concept..  
  
"Alec, Max is dead"  
  
Just like that. Simple. Direct. Deafening. His cold, impersonal voice had delivered the news. As though Max's death was nothing more than a casualty in his war, a statistic. The bastard. She'd loved him and Logan didn't even have the decency to mourn her passing. Crouched in the corner of Max's kitchen, Alec buried his face in his hands as he tried to deal with the loss. He sat there for a long while, staring sightlessly through grief stricken eyes. A litany repeating over and over in his mind.  
  
'Its all my fault. It should have been me. It should have been me. 'all my fault...'  
  
If Max hadn't gone into that police station to save his ass, they would never have gotten her. She wouldn't have been a target. She wouldn't have died. It should have been him, but Max had pushed him over the fence and told him to run. And like a coward he did. It had never occurred to him that Max couldn't take care of herself. She had feline DNA, and cats always landed on their feet....  
  
A low animalistic growl escaped his throat as the pain became too much to hold in.  
  
How was it possible she was gone? She was gone..and it was all his fault.  
  
Her apartment still reeked of her scent, and echoed of her presence. Dirty dishes sat in the kitchen waiting to be washed, and the imprint of her small frame could still be found on the bed.  
  
Everything in her apartment just sat there..waiting. As though any minute now she would come back. To make the bed or scold him for doing something foolish.  
  
Funny how you don't notice the impact someone's made on your life until they're gone. Max had been there when Manticore fell apart. She'd given him something to hold on to when his very foundation was crumbling around him. She was his hero.  
  
Max had shown him the difference between living and surviving..right and wrong. She was his rock admidst the angry sea of confusion that raged within him. Her constant presence had steadied him, guided him. But now that presence was gone, and once again found himself adrift without an anchor. At the mercy of the raging sea.  
  
Walking into the living room, Alec picked up a photograph taken just recently of Max and Original Cindy. The picture seemed like a cruel reminder of what no longer was. Tracing Max's smiling face with a finger it hit him all over again. Max was dead.  
  
Max was dead. And this picture. This simple mockery of the real thing was the closest he would ever get to touching her again.  
  
A singel, precious tear fell and landed on the frame, it slid to the floor and was gone. He gazed at it a bit longer... remembering her. Then Alec took the picture and tucked it into his jacket. It held an echo of Max, and in the end that was all he really needed.  
  
Pausing at the door, Alec took one last look at Max's apartment. Then he pivoted and closed the door quietly, the only sound a soft click. His last thought echoed through the room before it was carried away by the wind. A single phrase.  
  
'It should have been me.'  
  
############  
  
FEEDBACK!!! Remember no Logan unless you tell me you want it(me with evil grin) 


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